Leveraging Partnerships to Maximize Global Health Security Improvements in Guinea, 2015-2019

Abstract

In response to the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak, a US congressional appropriation provided funds to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to support global health security capacity building in 17 partner countries, including Guinea. The 2014 funding enabled CDC to provide more than 300 deployments of personnel to Guinea during the Ebola response, establish a country office, and fund 11 implementing partners through cooperative agreements to support global health security engagement efforts in 4 core technical areas: workforce development, surveillance systems, laboratory systems, and emergency management. This article reflects on almost 4 years of collaboration between CDC and its implementing partners in Guinea during the Ebola outbreak response and the recovery period. We highlight examples of collaborative synergies between cooperative agreement partners and local Guinean partners and discuss the impact of these collaborations in strengthening the above 4 core capacities. Finally, we identify the key elements of the successful collaborations, including communication and information sharing as a core cooperative agreement activity, a flexible funding mechanism, and willingness to adapt to local needs. We hope these observations can serve as guidance for future endeavors seeking to establish strong and effective partnerships between government and nongovernment organizations providing technical and operational assistance.

Implementing a DHIS2 Ebola virus disease module during the 2021 Guinea Ebola outbreak

“… 7 Expansion nationwide followed in 2018–2019, which included implementation of the DHIS2 case-based Tracker module for individual case reporting. 8 Initially, collection and reporting of individual-level data using the module was inconsistent and not used routinely for all priority diseases. However, in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic generated an urgent need for an outbreak management system capable of handling a large amount of case and contact data, as well as laboratory and potentially vaccination information.…”

The role of health systems for health security: a scoping review revealing the need for improved conceptual and practical linkages

“…In the Democratic Republic of Congo, low-tech improvements in data management and training resulted in more rapid and effective Ebola response [ 47 , 94 ], while in Cyprus, streamlining information sharing and the use of information technologies showed evidence of improved emergency preparedness as well as improved delivery of routine services [ 33 ]. Evidence also supports the health security benefits of building better networks and shared learnings between national and regional laboratory and information systems, in both LMIC [ 91 , 95 – 99 ] and HIC settings [ 100 ].…”

“…The need to strengthen workforce epidemiology capacities to collect and analyse data was a consistent theme [ 58 ]. Several articles examined country level initiatives like the Field Epidemiology Training Programs (FETP) or the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET), both of which have received the support of the US Center for Diseases control [ 58 , 99 , 101 ]. More system-wide and multisectoral reflections on how to adapt applied epidemiology training to current challenges (e.g.…”

Lessons learned for surveillance system strengthening through capacity building and partnership engagement in post-Ebola Guinea, 2015–2019

“…In 2017, in recognition that early detection of zoonotic pathogens is imperative for preventing and controlling zoonotic disease threats, RTI helped organize and facilitate a series of workshops between the MoH, the Ministries of Livestock and Environment, US CDC, the National Reference Laboratory, and other surveillance and laboratory stakeholders and partners to review and update the Guinea-specific IDSR priority diseases using a One Health approach ( 17 ). This multi-sectoral approach was intended to foster an enabling environment for collaboration and information sharing between the human, animal, and environmental health sectors, providing a foundation for future integration and interoperability of One Health data systems, as complementary reporting tools, structures, and systems for animal and environmental health became more advanced.…”